FROM pop wannabe to West End star, this is how Midland crooner Niki Evans’ will look in her new role in the musical Blood Brothers.

The 35-year-old, from Polesworth, near Tamworth, temporarily replaces veteran stage star Marti Webb in the lead role of Mrs Johnstone for two weeks in the touring version of the show at Birmingham Hippodrome from October 20.

Marti will then continue the tour while Niki will begin a six-month run in the role in the West End version of the show at the Phoenix Theatre.

Niki, who made it down to the final four in last year’s X Factor, said she had just two-and-a-half-weeks to learn the role.

“I had to learn songs quickly during the X Factor but now I’ve got 17 to learn – and the script as well.”

Niki, of Polesworth, near Tamworth, is also worried about her ability to ditch her Brummie twang for a Scouse accent for the part of Mrs Johnstone – a struggling single mum who gives away one of her twin children.